Water in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac is about thigh-deep and lapping over the tops of picket fences in Olde Towne Slidell Thursday morning, thanks to surge pushed in by the storm. The flooding has much of south Slidell under an evacuation order due to flooding this morning.

Slidell police are conducting rescues of people trapped in their homes, while Blackhawk helicopters were wheeling overhead. By 10 a.m., one crew led by Sgt. Robert Crowell had pulled out a dozen people, although one man later elected to get off the truck and return toward his home. All told, about 80 people had been rescued by 11:30 a.m., said Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith, adding, "and that's being conservative."

About 60 officers and 24 National Guard troops are conducting the rescues, Smith said.

Shortly before 8 a.m., police fetched Rebecca Bass and two of her children, Jennifer, 7, and Jacob, 1, from their house on Cardy Street in the Salmen Addition subdivision, which is surrounded by water about 3 feet deep. They called for help early this morning.

Rebecca clutched Jacob to her breast while a shivering and scared Jennifer, barefoot, went to the front of the truck and started to cry.

"I go to Brock Elementary," she said. "But it's ruined now."

Jennifer said she was asleep when her mother woke her amid rising water. One member of the Bass family, Tony, Jennifer's elder half-brother, stayed behind with the family dog and the parrot.

Crowell, a Slidell Police reserve officer, and Officer Wil Miller were carrying Bass and others from their porches to the truck. They said it's unclear how many people might need to be picked up, describing the operation as catch-as-catch-can. When officers see people on porches, they ask whether they want to be evacuated. Crowell said he wasn't sure how many had been rescued; his crew had picked up eight people as of 8:45 this morning.

Rescuers also picked up Dorothy Innerarity, 69, who is partially paralyzed, and Miller and Crowell carried her wheelchair above the dark brown water lapping at her home in the 2200 block of Second Street.

Not everyone was in a rush to get out. Kevin Young, the owner of KY's Bicycle Shop in Olde Towne, said he's seen it all before, in the floods of 1995 and again in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina. The water was a few inches deep in his store this morning. "No point in opening the door now," he shrugged.

Anna Fricke, 84, did not want to leave the College Street home where she's lived for 68 years.

"The Lord can take me on this truck just as he could have taken me in my room there," she said.

Fricke's daughter, Jean Chriswell, 54, persuaded her to leave. The water in Fricke's house is at the top step of the porch. It was 5 feet higher in Katrina, Chriswell said, and at roughly the same level it was during Hurricane Betsy. Many of the homes in Olde Town are raised and few if any of those appeared to have taken water inside, but slab houses were clearly in trouble or already flooded. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, there was no water in the yards or the streets, but it began to rise rapidly in the predawn darkness.

Motorists had abandoned their cars at some intersections, or were getting helped out of their vehicles by samaritans in kayaks, canoes, or flat-bottom boats. Other people waded through the streets, a handful of belongings clutched in makeshift sacks above their heads, headed toward dry land on the northern and western edges of Olde Towne.

James Rouble, 79, was sitting in a wheelchair on his porch this morning, smoking a cigarette. He said the water had actually receded some since 2:30 this morning.

"Nah," he said when asked if he needed any help. "This isn't my first rodeo," noting that he also stayed for Hurricane Katrina. Rouble's wife was in the house -- which is near the railroad tracks along U.S. 11 -- for Isaac, too, and his neighbors were also home.

The flooding came after Isaac caused Bayou Bonfouca to top the railroad tracks that act as a levee in south Slidell, forcing St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister and Slidell Mayor Freddy Drenna to call for an evacuation of some subdivisions. The evacuation area includes southern Brugier, Old Town Slidell, Dellwood, St. Tammany, Lakeshore Village and Yester Oaks. Slidell police have set up a command post by the railroad tracks at U.S. 11, next to the Times Grill.

Parish officials said water is entering the city from Bayou Bonfouca's banks and from rainfall. Bayou Pattasett is filled, and the water is going around the pumping station. The Slidell Police Department is preparing for any evacuations. Residents should move to higher ground. The shelter at Creekside Junior High School in Pearl River is open, and the parish will open more shelters, if needed.

A reverse 911 call is being made to all of south Slidell asking for an evacuation. Officials are asking that anyone on streets without water evacuate immediately.

East of Slidell, the parish has issued a boil water notice because the water system has lost pressure. The following neighborhoods are affected: Autumn Lakes, The Bluffs, Cross Gates, Cross Creek, French Branch Estates, The Landings of Cross Gates, Turtle Creek, Willow Wood and River Oaks. In addition, the Alton and Ben Thomas water systems are compromised.

The boil-water advisory will remain in effect until further notice. The parish recommends boiling water for one minute after it comes to a rolling boil before drinking, making ice, brushing teeth or using it to prepare food.

Brister and Sheriff Jack Strain will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. to provide an update on the conditions in St. Tammany Parish.